Wonderkid FC are changing the face of football

News Desk

2 years ago

Occasional Digest - a story for you

Established in 2016, Wonderkid FC’s beginnings stem from a mistake. That year saw the release of an anticipated short film by Rhys Chapman. The film, Wonderkid, follows a gay professional footballer trying to find his footing in an environment where hypermasculinity and homophobia reign supreme, from the training ground to the pitch. Following the film’s acclaimed release, the Wonderkid project received a tweet which mistook them for an actual football team and invited them to play in a tournament. “We took that opportunity to start a football team because I had a load of mates who wanted to get back into football,” Maria Sihaloho, one of the club’s founders, explains. A call-out was swiftly made, a tournament team assembled, and the rest was history. “We had such a great time and it’s kind of continued since then.” It’s a space they describe as for “whoever doesn’t feel safe within football” and thanks to the reliable medium of word-of-mouth, the club has only continued to grow and bring more people into the fold, boasting a varied age range and players with all manner of day jobs and professions.

The kind of community-centred football Wonderkid FC plays and advocates for has caught the attention of many, including top-flight team Arsenal whose Emirates Stadium sits five stops away from Mabley Green. And it’s why, for this East London evening session, they’re joined by a player for the Arsenal Women’s team. Jen Beattie, a defender with 143 Scottish caps under her belt, cuts a striking figure and it’s little wonder that one of the Wonderkid players nervously titters when later marked by Beattie during a training exercise.

It’s a ‘one club’ mentality, no matter what background you’re from

For the queer professional player, engaging with a team like Wonderkid FC just made sense. “It’s a local London club which is something that Arsenal really values and we love what they’re doing,” Beattie explains. Talk of the Wonderkid film, and the way it confronted abuse and homophobia in football, had made its way to Arsenal HQ and, in the defender’s opinion, “it was a no-brainer for us to get involved.”

💬 “It’s so important to remember what people have done to get us here.”

For LGBTQ+ History Month, @jbeattie91 teamed up with Wonderkid FC to share what it means to find an inclusive community through football 🏳️‍🌈

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) February 27, 2023

She goes on to explain the different ways that Arsenal staff and professional footballers have been supported by the club, including the establishment of Gay Gooners, Arsenal’s official supporters’ group for LGBTQ+ fans back in 2013. This February marks 10 years of Gay Gooners’ meet-ups before home fixtures, group trips to away games, regular social events, an annual presence at London Pride and directly liaising with the club on anti-LGBTQ+ football discrimination in football. Additionally, it’s in fact Arsenal’s LGBTQ+ staff network that organised the meeting between themselves and Wonderkid. “[The LGBTQ+ community insights] are coming from experience and I think that something that Arsenal really value,” adds Beattie. “It’s a ‘one club’ mentality, no matter what background you’re from.”

Source link